The Witch (Dragon Eyes Book 1)

by Kristina Hlaváčková

  “Silence! I will kill, you, witch!” he blurted out finally.

  “No, you will not” she declared in a voice defying any opposition. She stepped closer to him, so close the tip of his knife almost touched her chest. Clutching his wrist with steel like fingers, she pulled his hand away.

  “I took measures. In case of my death, your secrets will be revealed. Even in today’s evil times, what you have done is considered murder, and a heinous crime. I’m sure you would get the worst of it, if people knew what you have done. And don’t you dare lie about me! Don’t you dare say an ill word about me! Beware of my power, hence you shall not escape punishment!” she hissed into his face. Turning on her heal, she walked away from him.

  In the courtyard Breta took a deep breath of the icy air that reeked of pigs. Mother must have surely turned in her grave. Breta had lied to say she was a witch, but sometimes, it was simply useful that people thought her to be. While explaining something to Verend would be a pointless exercise, awakening fear was easy.

  7 CHAPTER

  DESTINY CHILD

  Drums sounded through the caves, shaking their walls. Elena lifted her head to listen.

  “What’s up?” asked Michael.

  “Sounds like alarm,” she replied and yelled at a passing dwarf: “what’s happening?”

  “Dragon! He’s above the mountain! There’s our folks outside!” the dwarf shouted back and ran on. Fear gripped Elena’s heart. She ran down the hallway.

  “What’s wrong?” Michael followed her.

  “It’s Wilbur. They’ll kill him!” howled Elena and gathered even more speed. She could feel him. She could sense his presence, but the protective shield she’d built around her consciousness to prevent him from finding her was too strong. It took even her a while to break through it. With neck breaking speed, she dashed through the corridors.

  “Wilbur, fly away! Fly away, they will kill you!” she screamed at him with her thoughts, calling him over and over, till he finally heard.

  Wilbur circling the mountain raised his head and roared. It was a joyful sound, but the dwarves did not know that.

  “Finally! Greetings, Beastie!” Slowly, he began to descend.

  “Fly away! They’ll kill you!” Elena called in vain. He refused to leave, she could feel it. The surface of the mountain was beginning to swarm with dwarves. She wished they would use some common sense, hide underground in their caves and let the dragon be. Wilbur roared again, shaking the mountain. To the dwarves, it sounded like an angry rampage, Elena heard a happy whoop. Those who saw her pass through the corridors got frantically out of her way. She was still accelerating, refusing to lengthen her route even by a step to sidestep someone. Michael began to fall back, unable to keep up.

  Elena emerged on top of the mountain the same moment the dwarves fired their first arrows. Wilbur roared. And this time it was certainly not a happy roar. Whirling swiftly, he tried to avoid the shots. Most arrows bounced off his scales, but his wings were vulnerable.

  “Hold your fire!” Elena screamed; surprised at the strength of her own voice that carried over the cliffs as strongly as that of Wilbur. Stunned, the dwarves turned to her. Wilbur was sky-rocketing upward, but it was only a matter of time, when he would turn down again and attack. A volley of arrows followed him.

  “Hold your fire! I beg of you, hold your fire, he’s a friend!” she yelled. Aghast, the dwarves watched her rush over the boulders, jumping from one to another, heading for the mountain peak. She could see Wilbur high in the clouds, as he turned, folded his wings to his body, and dashed headlong to attack.

  “Wilbur, stop! They’re my friends! Leave!” Elena screamed at him, knocking dwarves to the ground, so they couldn’t shoot. Someone jumped her. It was Dru. Both fell onto the rock, rolling over a few times, before she managed to free herself from his clutches.

  Wilbur saw them struggling. It made him even more furious. He accelerated. Elena sensed fire gathering in his throat. If he killed someone, she would never manage to convince the dwarves he was a friend.

  “No!” she shrieked with all her might. “Don’t do it! They’re my friends! No one has to die! They’re my friends!” Another volley of arrows and spears was suddenly airborne, Wilbur spat fire, but at the same time rocketed skyward again. Flame licked rocks and bushes, dwarves scattered. She screamed at them and Wilbur, cursed and called them fools, idiots and mutton-heads. Everyone could hear her.

  Dru finally took a good look at her. Her eyes were full of fire, her pupils elongated. He saw both a plea and threat in those eyes. From out of those eyes, suddenly, a furious dragon was glaring at him. An enraged dragon. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he was going to die, should he not back away. Wilbur felt her ambivalence, not really sure who the girl wanted to protect more, whether it was him or the dwarves. He couldn’t understand. Didn’t everyone know that dragons despised dwarves? It was mutual, even though no one could remember where this hatred originated.

  “What are you doing? He will slaughter us like vermin, if we don’t defend ourselves,” Dru barked at her.

  She stared him straight in the eye. And he backed away a step. So did all, who had gathered around him.

  “Promise me you will not attack, Wilbur!” Elena tried to convince her friend in her thoughts, while glaring at the dwarves.

  “But they’re dwarves, dragon murderers,” he growled.

  “They are my friends. You’ve slaughtered each other for millennia and it’s time to stop!” she took him short.

  “I don’t see a reason to.”

  “I am that reason! They’re helping me! They are kind to me. I’ve learned a lot from them and they’re my friends. You claim you love me. If it’s true, you will now promise you will not attack!” Her voice inside his head was suddenly cold as ice.

  Wilbur snorted.

  “He is my friend, Dru. His name is Wilbur. Let me talk to him, no one needs to die!” Elena turned to the dwarf.

  “It’s a dragon, you cannot negotiate with a dragon!” Dru sneered.

  “It’s a dwarf, an iron-witted piece of stone come alive,” Wilbur retorted.

  “Enough! Stop acting like a bunch of irate little brats, all of you. If you don’t stop right now, I’ll really get mad!”

  Now that wasn’t difficult to believe. Even looked white hot furious. Fascinated, they all watched her. And then, the dwarves one by one looked at her hands. She had them raised sideways in a protective gesture, palms up. Small fiery orbs appeared on those palms and were beginning to rotate slowly. The skinny girl looked terrifying. Even more terrifying, because she was obviously unaware of the fire in her hands.

  Her thoughts had changed. Suddenly she was like raging fire enclosed with ice. Wilbur was taken aback by this change, by her sudden sharpness.

  “Just calm down!” That was Dru.

  Michael appeared behind him.

  “I would listen to her if I were ya’, otherwise we’re ears deep in shit,” he proclaimed drily. Dru stared at the fiery orbs on Elena’s palms.

  “Wilbur, promise me you will not attack!”

  Wilbur growled darkly, sliding through the air high above their heads.

  “Stop acting like a priggish lizard and start using your brain. It’s big enough. If you want to continue in this manner, get lost and never return!”

  “Beastie?” Suddenly, he pleaded.

  “Either you behave yourself, or I never want to see you again!” Elena snapped back at him.

  “Beastie!”

  “Why are you protecting the monster?” Dru interrupted the silent conversation. Elena laughed. It was not a pleasant laugh.

  “He isn’t a monster and it’s not only him I’m trying to protect. Should anyone loose their temper, should you all not start behaving, many brave warriors will die. A dragon is not an enemy easy to defeat.”

  “You bet!” Willbur commented.

  Elena ignored him. “You told me dragons had not attacked your folk for decades. I think you’re
just holding a grudge you no longer know a reason for. Wat if you manage to kill the dragon? What do you expect to happen? His people will definitely not let it pass. You will bring war upon yourselves. Many will die. Do you want that to happen?”

  “We will slaughter them like vermin, no problemo!” Wilbur butt in.

  “If it’s so easy, why do you have an injured wing and a spear in your loin?” she snapped.

  “Dragons are …”

  “Very intelligent creatures with their own social system, language and history. And a very dangerous enemy,” Elena finished Dru’s sentence for him, guessing what he wanted to say. It had something to do with stupid lizards.

  “We have to defend ourselves.” Dru stood his ground.

  “No you don’t if he doesn’t attack,” Elena maintained.

  “Where is our guarantee?”

  Elena narrowed her eyes angrily. “Wilbur, it’s up to you.”

  On Elena’s palms, the fire balls accelerated, she was beginning to lose her patience. All dwarves began to back away from her. Wilbur growled.

  “They are my friends and that should be enough, for you,” she tried to reason with him.

  “Or it proves your lousy judgment,” Wilbur murmured grumpily.

  “There is nothing to discuss, then. I believed you to be my friend. I was wrong and you have no right to make such a rotten decision. Leave and don’t come back.”

  Fireballs on her palms changed color.

  “Careful, Eli!” Michael whispered. “And ya’ stop acting like an idiot, Wilbur,” he spoke to the dragon. An answer to which was a dogged silence.

  Surprised, Elena looked at her hands, then at the dwarves. She refused to choose between her friends. There was no way she would watch them murder each other. Her anger slowly changed into desperation. Something was wrong with the way Wilbur moved.

  “You’re badly injured,” she accused him.

  “Come with me, Beastie.” Wilbur pleaded.

  “Winter knows no remorse. You need help.” She wouldn’t answered him.

  “Who will vouch for the dragon not to attack?” Dru repeated his question. All the dwarves were restless.

  “You will not come with me, will you, Beastie.”

  “No,” Elena stated firmly.

  “Alright, then. But if any of the mice come near me, I’ll eat them alive,” Wilbur growled in her thoughts.

  “I will vouch for him,” Elena answered Dru’s question.

  “Me too,” Michael joint in. However, Dru hesitated. “It isn’t up to me to decide such a thing.”

  “But you can decide that your men will return underground and will leave the dragon alone at least for now,” Elena tried to persuade him.

  “There are more of us above ground, away from the mountain,” Dru reasoned. Elena looked at her palms. Very slowly, she closed her fingers and the fireballs vanished.

  “Go back to the tunnels. I will wait here with Wilbur, so you’ll have time to find everyone and get them to safety. Michael, go with them.” Michael drew a breath, but then decided not to protest. Wilbur would need an advocate with Bogur. And if he understood correctly, that was supposed to be him. Dru issued a command. All the dwarves began to grumble. Dru yelled at them. One by one, the dwarves obeyed, slowly disappearing into the mountain. The last ones to go were Dru and Michael.

  Dru didn’t like it. Not in the least. It seemed very unwise to leave a young girl alone with a dragon. You know what they say about dragons and you know… virgins. Michael stopped him in the entrance to the tunnels.

  “Watch,” he whispered. For a moment, they waited. Elena moved to evacuate space for him to land, watching Wilbur spiral down to the ground. This time he landed a bit clumsily among the boulders.

  “Hello, Beastie.”

  “Hello, you stubborn mule.” Elena took a few steps towards him and caressed his snout. Somehow it was not enough, so she hugged Wilbur around the neck. Dru’s eyebrows disappeared under his helmet.

  “She’ll be alright,” Michael grinned at him.

  “I’m angry with you!” Elena waged a finger before his snout. Finally, she let go of him. “Now show me that wing of yours,” she commanded. Wilbur stretched his wing obediently, revealing not only the injured membrane, but also a wound in the loin. A broken spear was sticking out of his muscles, obviously embedded quite deep. The injury was bleeding heavily and most probably was quite painful.

  “It serves you right!” she scolded him again.

  “They started it!”

  “Oh, did they? What a mature argument! Definitely worthy of the master of the sky! This will hurt.” Without any further delay Elena grabbed the spear and pulled it out. Wilbur wheezed. She could feel the pain she caused and was sorry, but could see no other way. Healing Wilbur’s wounds was different from healing humans. Or humanoids. But she managed. Looking at the spear, she could not resist a smile. It was Dru’s. While the dwarves bustled around the mountains, trying to find all their errant fellows, Elena huddled under Wilbur’s wing, enjoying his company. Cold, biting wind lashed at the world around her. She was chilly, but leaning on Wilbur’s warm side made things considerably better. Talking to him after such a long time was more than pleasant. Now, more than ever before, she felt him to be a part of her. A part she had missed painfully.

  “Why do dragons and dwarves hate each other so much?” she asked, but didn’t get an answer from her friend.

  “Is there even a real reason for it? Or is it like all those wars nobody really knows when and why they started?” Elena persisted and Wilbur shrugged. “Well, might be a good idea to give it all a thought. What if it’s just a lot of unnecessary humbug?” Elena kept to her topic. Wilbur remained silent, but licked his freshly healed wound quite pointedly.

  “I’m just thinking that they spend most of the time underground, while your folk are at home in the air. You hardly ever meet, you don’t get in each other’s way and there is no competition between you, so why the fuss? Wasn’t it you who said that dwarves aren’t even good to eat, that they are good only for breaking one’s teeth? I don’t get it. Why kill each other?”

  “You forgot to mention they stink,” he threw in and Elena laughed.

  For quite some time she tried to convince him it was all a big misunderstanding between two nations who knew nothing about one another. When she began to tell him about her new found friends, he reluctantly had to admit that they might not be all that bad. As long as they kept their distance. He called her attention to the fact that even if he was inclined to make peace with the dwarves, he could under no circumstances speak for anyone else but himself.

  “You must come back with me,” Wilbur said out of the blue.

  “No way!” Elena rejected the idea firmly, her mood dropping. She stood up to walk away but Wilbur blocked her way with his humongous paw.

  “Listen to me!” the dragon insisted.

  “I’m not going back. It’s dangerous!” she refused to budge.

  “What happened?” Wilbur wanted to know. So she told him. Reluctantly so.

  “There’s another way,” he commented after a moment of thoughtful silence. Elena laughed bitterly.

  “Sure is, not to go back.”

  Wilbur touched her gently with his snout. “Failon is correct in maintaining that you need to learn to control your powers. He only chose a not very fortunate way to do it.”

  “He’s messing up my head,” she grumbled.

  “What if I teach you?” Wilbur offered, and Elena frowned at him. She did not want to oppose him, she did not want to argue, and she did not want to go back.

  “If I teach you to control your powers, will you come back with me?” Wilbur continued. Elena narrowed her eyes suspiciously. The dragon was obviously aiming at something and she didn’t like the implications.

  “Your mother is furious. And she isn’t the only one. They had a terrible row with Alivan,” Wilbur began to explain.

  “Great-aunt is a wacko. The two of them have been i
n each other’s hair forever,” Elena waved it off. This time it was Wilbur who laughed.

  “Interesting view of the problem, but that is not the issue here.”

  “And what exactly is the issue her?” Elena hissed, not even bothering to use telepathy.

  “Your absence has created a dangerous situation. The friendship between elves and Berber is very fragile. Even more fragile is the peace between elves and dwarves. No one really knows what happened. Disputes are now breaking out even between elves and my kin.” Elena listened attentively as Wilbur explained.

  “But I’m just a kid, what am I supposed to do about all that?” she protested.

  “You can come back with me. You are destined to change the fate of all the Kérala nations.”

  Elena shook her head disapprovingly. “I’m just an unfledged shrimp,” she opposed with her arms across her chest, all huddled up as if prepared for a blow. Elena was worried. Wilbur was implying she might be the cause of a war. Her first thought was that it was impossible, but … what if… Wilbur was watching her. Did he say she was destined? What did he mean by that?

  “Why did you say I was destined?” The word finally got from her brain into her mouth. Wilbur hesitated and then began to explain:

  “There is a prophecy. From the blood of four nations a child will be born. A child who will restore ancient friendships, dull recent spites and bring about new alliances. A child whose actions will tilt the scales of fate of all the Kérala nations,” he recited, paused and then continued: “Elves and dragons alike believe you to be that child. That is why they are willing to teach you.”

  Elena wrapped her knees with her arms, thoughtfully rocking back and forth. Her silence seemed endless.

  “That’s rubbish!” she proclaimed, when she finally spoke. And she did so out loud. As if thinking hard made it difficult to concentrate on telepathy.